Comparing this season's defense to 2000
Comparing this season's defense to 2000
Sporting KC are on pace to have one of the best defensive seasons in club and league history. They have had shutouts in almost half of their matches and lead the league in goals against average (GAA). How does this season stack up against the 2000 MLS Cup winning team? The 2000 team had more shutouts but had a higher GAA. There are definite similarities to the teams as both are led by strong goalkeepers in Tony Meola (pictured above) and JImmy Nielsen. Meola was the league MVP and Nielsen will likely be in consideration for this year's award.
The comparison of stats for both teams are below. The 2012 stats will continue to be updated as the season progresses. The stats below are only for the MLS regular season.
2000 Season defense (regular season - 32 matches)
| Goals Against Average | 0.90 |
| Shutouts | 17 |
| # of times conceding one goal | 8 |
| # of times conceding two goals | 3 |
| # of times conceding three goals | 2 |
| # of times conceding four or more goals | 2 |
| Total Goals Conceded | 29 (32 matches) |
| Longest Shutout Streak (games) | 6 |
| Longest Shutout Streak (minutes) | 681 |
| Saves (by all goalkeepers) | 129 |
| Formation | 3-5-2 |
2012 Season defense (through 31 matches)
| Goals Against Average | 0.81 |
| Shutouts | 14 |
| # of times conceding one goal | 11 |
| # of times conceding two goals | 5 |
| # of times conceding three goals | 0 |
| # of times conceding four or more goals | 1 |
| Total Goals Conceded | 25 (31 matches) |
| Longest Shutout Streak (games) | 3 |
| Longest Shutout Streak (minutes) | 414 |
| Saves (by all goalkeepers) | 66 |
| Formation | 4-3-3 |